Virginia’s Authentic New Restaurant

Whatever you do, don’t call it Cajun. Chef-owner David Guas’s month-old Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery(lunch for two $40) may serve pillowy beignets and slow-cooked jambalaya, but its soul-satisfying offerings (braised-pork-shoulder sausage infused with cayenne, anyone?) plumb the depths of Louisiana’s complex cuisine. “New Orleans is another country—and it goes way beyond Cajun or Creole,” says Guas. “With Bayou, I’m saying, ‘This is what we really eat in my hometown. I hope you enjoy it.’” We can’t imagine you won’t.

Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery

The 2010-opened resto may serve pillowy beignets and slow-cooked jambalaya, but its soul-satisfying offerings (braised-pork-shoulder sausage infused with cayenne, anyone?) plumb the depths of Louisiana’s complex cuisine. “New Orleans is another country—and it goes way beyond Cajun or Creole,” says Chef Guas. “With Bayou, I’m saying, ‘This is what we really eat in my hometown. I hope you enjoy it.’” We can’t imagine you won’t.